Data gathered by road sensors can be compromised

Data gathered and processed by road sensors can be dramatically compromised, according to a new report by Kaspersky Lab.

If data is compromised, it may cause huge losses to a city and impact future city authority decisions on the development of road infrastructure.

Fraudulent access to the transport infrastructure could also lead to other problems as the data gathered by road sensors may lead to sabotage or be resold to third parties.

Other problems include modification, falsification and even deletion of critical data; demolition of the expensive equipment; and sabotage of the city authority's services.

"Without the data gathered by these sensors, actual traffic analysis and subsequent city transport system adjustments would not be possible," said Denis Legezo, Security Researcher, Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT), Kaspersky Lab.

Smart traffic light

Sensors are important as they can be used to create a smart traffic light system; decide what kind of roads should be built; and how traffic should be organised in different areas of the city.

"All these issues mean that the work of sensors and the quality of data gathered by them should be accurate and stable," added Legezo.

Kaspersky Lab recommends the removal of vendor's name on the device to help prevent a successful cyberattack against transport infrastructure devices.

Removal of vendor's name could help an attacker to find tools online for hacking the device. The default names of the device should be changed and vendor's media access control (MAC) addresses should be disguised.

A successful cyberattack against transport infrastructure devices can also be avoided by using two steps of authentication on devices with Bluetooth connectivity and protecting them with strong passwords.